


Aftershocks

by likestoimagine



Series: Spots and Stripes, Roses and Paws [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 06:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5080420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likestoimagine/pseuds/likestoimagine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the akuma-possesion is ended, when the Hawk Moth's focus point is broken, when the black butterfly is made white and the city is made anew...</p>
<p>Well, there are still things left undone.</p>
<p>(Chapter 2 - Nathanael doesn't really remember everything about his time as a super villain, but he remembers exactly what he needs to.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. RogerCop

**Author's Note:**

> This is totally not going to be in any type of order, nor for every episode. It's basically just a compilation of different scenarios that I think could clean up loose ends that the episodes can't or don't quite address. I hope you enjoy it, though :)

The day after the Parent Show and Tell, Chloe walks into the classroom like she's on a runway, wearing her expensive bracelet and going on loudly about how _she got to see Ladybug_ , and how _Ladybug actually talked to her_  and how  _the bracelet was in my bag the whole time, imagine that_ while ignoring the fact that people don't actually want to listen.

 

Of course, she doesn't even _think_  to apologize, to anyone. Not that Marinette expected anything different, but still. It’d be so, so easy to get mad, because Chloe unfairly accused her of theft and doesn't even have the decency to look sheepish, but...

 

Marinette had been in the wrong, too, when she dragged other people into her problem. And it's way too tiring to be so angry about something that’s pretty much taken care of with no harm done anyways.

 

Well, almost taken care of. There’s still one thing that Marinette needs to do, so when she sees Nathanael walk through the door, head bent down and sketchbook clutched protectively to his chest as always, she shoots out of her seat and skids to a stop in front of him.

 

When Nathanael notices her presence, his eyes go wide and panicked. Marinette is... not entirely sure why, considering she'd have expected him to be _angry_  and there’s not really anything she can accuse him of now anyways, but she stalls that train of thought so that she can do what she needs to.

 

"Hey, Nathanael," she asks, shifting from foot to foot, "Can I talk to you?"

 

He doesn't exactly look at her, but his voice is mild as he replies, "S-sure. W-what do you need?"

 

Marinette bites her lip, wondering how she should even start. After a brief moment of hesitation in which she considers and discards a dozen different, softer openings, she eventually just blurts out, "I'm sorry!"

 

Entirely too loudly, too, if his jump is any indication.

 

He loses his grip on his sketchbook and for a moment it looks like its going to fall just like it did yesterday, but Marinette manages to catch it and avoid repeating it’s previous spill. The book is pretty much unmarred, except for the fading imprint of her hand on the cover, but she still chuckles sheepishly when she hands it back.

 

Nathanael stares at it, then glances up at Marinette with about the same air as a cornered rabbit.

 

She waves it slightly in encouragement, and he finally (gingerly) accepts it before looking up through his bangs to ask, "...What for?"

 

"I shouldn't have dragged you into all that drama yesterday, or accused you to prove my point…” she admits, and she hates that she has to face these uncomfortable truths but knows it has to be done, so she continues, “...that was horrible of me."

 

Nathanael is silent for a long moment, during which time Marinette worries that she's somehow made him angry. But, instead of getting mad Nathanael replies, "It's fine, I know you didn't mean to…”

 

He hesitates (and looks like he might bolt right then and there, he’s so red) before he blurts, “Um!” - he winces, then continues quieter - “I… I think Chloe was wrong, to accuse you. Especially when everyone knows you wouldn’t do something like that. So… I get why you did it.”

 

Marinette can’t help but giggle incredulously at his statement. “You are awfully sweet,” she exclaims with a hand on her hip, poking at the air in front of him as she continues, “to feel that way when I dragged you into the whole thing as a suspect. But regardless, I still should have thought about how you’d feel before doing anything like that. And truth be told, I was a lot more interested in proving her wrong than I was in any real justice at the time.”

 

"It was still true, though. And all you really did was point out that we looked suspicious,” Nathanael says with a small, shy smile. Now that he knows what’s going on, his hold on his sketchbook loosens and the line of his shoulder softens, and he says, “Still, can you believe? Three whole suspects and no one was the culprit."

 

It’s not really that funny, but Marinette is so relieved that everything’s settled that she laughs anyways, “If only other crimes could be solved that easily! Then the police would be out of a job!”

 

“Ladybug and Chat Noir, too, I’d think,” Nathanael adds, smiling at the banter.

 

Marinette notices, and snickers, “Their lives would be so much easier, not having to deal with super villains!” thinking of how absurd it would be for superpower, akumaified villain problems to just resolve themselves.

 

Now that everything is resolved and short laughs die down and there are no hard feelings left unaddressed, Marinette feels safe in saying, “Thank you for forgiving me” with a warm smile.

 

Nathanael blushes as he stammers, “N-no problem. And, um, thank you for apologizing,” before he scampers over to his desk.

 

When Marinette sits down, she glances back one last time at her red-headed classmate. He notices her attention and ducks his head down, but then peeks back up and waves briefly.

 

Feeling lighter, Marinette waves back and turns to the front of the class.

 

(She doesn’t notice that Nathanael’s face is now a startling match for his hair.)


	2. Evillustrator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn’t for the blank spot in his memory, Nathanael might not have even guessed that he’d even had a stint as an unwilling super-villain. 
> 
> However, there is exactly that blank spot in his memory, so he kind of figures it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to imagine that the victims of akuma possession actually regain some of their memories of what happens, after the fact, correlated to how much of their actual personality was involved in their actions (at the very least, it explains some of the catharsis that victims seem to feel after their various rampages.)
> 
> So for someone like Stormy Weather who pretty easily decided to go and get the Miraculous after she got her revenge, she probably doesn't remember much. Someone like the Evillustrator who wanted to go on a date with his classmate and had to be threatened to remember the Miraculous... I imagine he was a lot closer to his actions.

If it wasn’t for the blank spot in his memory - one that starts with him heading for the principal’s office and ends with him confused on the ground of Chloe’s suite right in front of a fist-bumping superhero duo - Nathanael might not have even guessed that he’d even had a stint as an unwilling super-villain. 

 

However, there is _exactly_ that blank spot in his memory, so he kind of figures it out even as he’s shaking off the disorientation of suddenly being a half a day short of his life.

 

That’s about all that he really remembers about his birthday, unfortunately, and it doesn’t get any less confusing when Ladybug kneels in front of him and hands him a scrap of paper.

 

She murmurs, “Sorry I couldn’t get this to you before Chloe messed it up,” and Nathanael glances down to see his picture ruined with immature scribbles. 

 

Knives cut into his heart as he sees just how casually Chloe can destroy his work and yet… it’s not really the worst thing that could happen. Now that he sees his picture again, Nathanael can’t help but think that the drawing - of Marinette as a fawning damsel in distress - is just _wrong._ If Chloe had to ruin one of his drawings, then at least it was that one, instead of something better.

 

Though, that doesn’t mean he can keep the dismay out of his voice as he lets slip a murmured, “Oh…” 

 

Then he flinches, because _wow_ that must have sounded ungrateful. And to Ladybug, of all people…

 

Ladybug seems to understand though, because instead of being insulted she winces and apologetically grimaces, “Yeah, she’s really something…” before straightening up and holding out her hand to him. 

 

Louder, and with a warm smile, she says, “Let’s get you on your way home, okay?”

 

Nathanael - disoriented by his own life right now - accepts the assistance without a thought, then rethinks some of his life decisions when he’s suddenly flying out of a window, with only a tiny (superpowered to be fair, but still) girl swinging on a yoyo preventing him from becoming a splat on the sidewalk. 

 

The paper in his hand ends up a lot more crumpled than it started. 

 

When they touch down on the streets outside, Ladybug lands as softly as a rose petal. Nathanael wishes he could say the same for himself, but he descends a lot more like a pile of bricks, wobbly knees nearly dropping him before Ladybug’s gloved hand comes up to grip his arm.

 

She waits until it looks like he can stand without face-planting before she says, “I have to go now, but for what it’s worth, I hope you have a happy birthday. And… I saw your picture. Even with all that marker covering it, I can tell you’re a really good artist.”

 

The smile that she gives him looks strangely sad in the dim street-lights, and without giving Nathanael a chance to figure out why, she flings her yoyo through the darkness to flit away like… well, like a Ladybug. 

 

As Nathanael makes his way home, he realizes that this actually hasn’t been the worst birthday, after all. Somehow.

 

(He’s not entirely sure if anyone is going to believe him, though.)

 

oOoOo

 

The next day, Marinette approaches Nathanael’s desk and sets two packages in front of him. One is a present wrapped in pretty purple paper, the other is a clear plastic box with a large, fancy cupcake in it.

 

Nathanael traces the line of her arm to her bouncy pigtails then her face, looking up at her through his bangs as he tries to ask what she’s doing there. Except, he sees Marinette shift her weight from foot to foot as she worries at her lower lip, and those tiny movements steal his voice from this throat, leave him flustered and speechless and floundering for coherent thought.

 

Somehow though, Marinette answers the question that he never asks. “I heard it was your birthday yesterday, and I didn’t really get the chance to wish you a happy one,” she admits without quite meeting his eyes, “But! I have a belated birthday present for you, so… happy birthday.”

 

She meets his gaze with a somewhat sheepish smile, and it’s exactly like sunlight pouring through dark clouds. None of that helps his ability to speak, but despite that, Nathanael somehow manages to blurt out, “Wait, Marinette,” before he can even think to regret it.

 

Marinette, who had just turned to go back to her desk, glances at Nathanael with confusion in her stunning, crystal sky eyes.

 

Nathanael swallows. He opens his mouth, realizes that he’s forgotten what words are, then clears his throat with a cough before he finally squeaks, “Um, I’m sorry about drawing you without your permission… I shouldn’t have done that.”

 

He plans to speak clearly and confidently, to show Marinette the sincerity of his words. But, Nathanael also forgets to take into account the fact that he’s a wallflower by nature, and that said nature is only exacerbated by his crush.

 

He trips on his words and hides with his hair, and by the time he’s done speaking, he’s little more than a stuttering, blushing mess hidden by his sketchbook, barely managing to peek over its horizon to see how Marinette (lovely, _confident_ Marinette who stands up to Chloe and takes care of her classmates and is everything he wishes he could be, sometimes) will respond.

 

Marinette takes a second to blink at him, and Nathanael’s brain helpfully supplies at least six different out of character scenarios in which Marinette can declare varying levels of _I never want to see/hear/talk to you again._

 

What he actually gets is Marinette’s radiant smile crinkling her eyes into crescent moons.

 

“Thank you, Nath,” she says past her smile, “but don’t worry about it, really. And for what it’s worth,” she adds with a wink, “you have permission to draw me if you still want. If anything, I’m honored that such a great artist would want to.”

 

He may or may not be able to spontaneously combust by sheer force of his blush by now, but Nathanael manages to nod and not shout too loudly as he stutters, “Oh, um, th-thank you very much!”

 

With a parting wave, Marinette turns to go back to her desk before Ms. Bustier can scold her into doing so, and with Marinette sitting down, Nathanael finally remembers the packages in front of him.

 

The cupcake is a fluffy, cream-colored confection that could be vanilla, but might be something more adventurous if his vague recollections of the bakery menu are any indication. While it’s slathered in blue frosting and looks absolutely delicious, eating it isn’t really an option right now since class is starting - so instead of taunting himself with the pastry, Nathanael instead peels the purple wrapping paper off of the second package, revealing a patchwork pencil case in the process. 

 

Then his brain stutters to a screeching, overloaded halt as he spots Marinette’s looping signature at the edge of a seam and realizes that _she personally hand made a present for him._

 

It’s a good thing that Marinette sits in front of him, because that means that she can’t watch him turn into a total mess of a tomato.

 

oOoOo

 

Nathanael’s recollection of the time in which he’d been possessed is like dark molasses dripping from the ceiling, landing on him in thick, translucent drops. Each blob only allows the faintest inklings of light to peek through, but it’s _something_ in the haze of his lost memories, and it’s enough to let him dream of some of the things that happened that day.

 

He remembers that when he’d first been possessed, the wave of black magic and the surge of confidence that followed had felt like a blessing. When he looks at this from far away, that might just be the scariest thing.

 

But he’d been so _free,_ with that first touch of darkness. A deep, strong voice whispered in his heart that _you could finally take a stand and get revenge, if only you’d retrieve the Miraculous for me_ , and Nathanael hadn’t seen anything wrong with that. He’d been brave enough to see the world without his bangs to shield him, he’d punished injustices just as a hero should, and it’s that - more than his actual powers - that make him see that his drawings had finally come to life. 

 

Except Nathanael hadn’t seen that he’d become a villain, that his heart and his drawings were corrupted by _vengeance_ where a hero is _justice._ He hadn’t seen the chains that tied him to that destructive magic, that bound him to the whim of mercurial emotions. 

 

But… he feels like he should have guessed when rage was twisting his heart, when the work spilling from his fingers was nothing more than large, uninspired things only meant for destruction. That’s not who he wants to be. That’s not why he’s an artist.

 

He wants to cherish beautiful things - a boat on the Seine, glowing in lantern-light. A captured piece of moonlight, romantically luminescent and music embodied, drifting to the sky. This is what he hopes is truer to his heart when he wakes, and they all lead to the sharpest point, the clearest picture of his time possessed. 

 

Marinette. Bright, beautiful, _perfect_ Marinette who was shy when accepting his invitation, bold when asking him to spare Chloe. This is Marinette, who’s eyes light up as he reveals the backdrop of their date, whose lips curve into a gentle smile as she talks with him in soft whispers and a sweet voice. 

 

It’s Marinette, who thinks his art is amazing and says the quiet part of him is kind, and Marinette, who yanks his stylus away even as she calls for Chat Noir’s aid. 

 

He hated her for that, at the time. She _humiliated_ him, accepting his invitation only to try and strip away everything good about the day - she was just like Chloe, bitter and shallow and ugly at heart.

 

Except… that isn’t true. Outside of that veil of darkness, Nathanael sees the same sweet Marinette, beautiful inside and out, fierce enough and brave enough to face down a super villain despite being powerless in order to stop people from being hurt. 

 

For Chloe, who she doesn’t even like, and for him, who couldn’t even see that he needed to be saved. 

 

She wanted to _save_ him from a choking, empty darkness, and he’d responded by comparing her to _Chloe_ and leaving her to die. And despite all that, she approached him with nothing more than a gift and a smile the next day.

 

The picture that Marinette paints in his blurred memories is of a girl more radiant than the starlight that gilds her midnight black hair. It’s of a girl with a heart larger than oceans, with earnest eyes that hold the unbreakable strength and brilliance of blue diamonds, and Nathanael, more than anything, wants to apologize for missing all of that when it had been all so clear.

 

He accused her of being like Chloe because he thought she’d been blind to the gifts he’d been granted, and yet he’d been the blind one all along. 

 

(Because he hadn’t been able to see past the darkness’s veneer to see its true ugliness. Because he couldn’t see who was actually trying to help him, and he didn’t see who had been the true hero, all along.)

 

oOoOo

 

The next day Nathanael doesn’t exactly plan what happens, but Marinette is sitting in the hall, doodling as she waits for Alya to finish up her club meeting, and before he knows it his feet have brought him face to face with the hero of his dreams. 

 

When Marinette notices his shadow on her paper, she looks up. Her mouth is scrunched in a pout of concentration, but when she sees him, it shifts into a smile as she says, “Hey, Nath, what’s up?”

 

Nathanael has no idea what’s up, actually, because he didn’t plan for _any of this._ That much is abundantly clear as he stutters, at least, but it’s quite likely that not much else is.

 

Somehow, though, Nathanael manages to choke out a clumsy, “Hi, Marinette… um, I wanted… well, I wanted to ask you something?” before he cringes and hopes for the ground to swallow him whole.

 

Marinette, bless her soul, does not run screaming for the hills at the crazy classmate stammering in front of her, and in fact simply asks him, “Sure, what is it?” as she sets her pencil in her sketchbook and closes it shut. 

 

She looks up at him in that way she always looks at people, like she’s really listening and invested in hearing what a person has to say, and Nathanael’s mouth goes dry as he looks into her blue-diamond eyes.

 

“Um, well, I was thinking…” that he could very easily drown in her gaze and he is _not saying that out loud thankyouverymuch_ , “ that I kind of want to draw a Ladybug comic, but no one knows who she really is. And well, I was wondering… ifitwouldbeoktobaseheroffofyou.”

 

As he’s answered with a hacking cough as Marinette apparently chokes on thin air, Nathanael takes a moment to regret all of his life choices. 

 

He stammers out a series of half formed excuses as Marinette’s eyes water, and he's about half a step away from fleeing when she finally asks (with a slightly strangled voice), “You want to base Ladybug off of me? Why?”

 

Oh, so she just wants to know why. Um. He might not have thought this through too well, actually, because any explanation he gives is going to bring up _something_ uncomfortable - whether it’s the fact that he _still_ spends what could possibly be taken as an unhealthy amount of time observing her without her express knowledge even if she did give him permission to draw her, the elephant in the room that he kind of pseudo-kidnapped her as a super villain that one time, or both. 

 

Theoretically, he _could_ walk away in an awkward mess right now… but Nathanael’s already here, and very likely will never find the courage for something like this again. 

 

So, instead of running for the hills, he steels himself for mortification and mumbles, “Well, um. I… kind of remember some of the super villain things I did? And that you were really brave?”

 

Frowning, Marinette says, “Nath, you weren’t a super _villain_. You were possessed by dark magic, that’s a victim if anything,” and Nathanael’s not actually that surprised that that’s what she latched on to. 

 

But that’s also not really the point he’s trying to make right now, so he doubtfully replies, “If you say so… but well, that doesn’t change what I did. And I do remember you were really brave and kind.”

 

Marinette shakes her head, “I wouldn’t say that. I just couldn’t let you stay possessed, is all. And I’m not that kind, either. I had to trick you to try and get the ak - to get the butterfly away. ”

 

For a moment, Marinette hesitates. Then, her eyes go adamant and she stares Nathanael head on as she says, “I won’t apologize for trying to get the butterfly away from you. I _can’t_ apologize for that, but… I’m sorry that I had to hurt you in the process.”

 

After that, she falls silent. This is quite possibly the last thing that Nathanael expected for Marinette to say, and yet it makes all too much sense that she’d be upset about that, instead of the fact that she’d been forced into a date with a super vil - victim, apparently.

 

After the pause stretches just a little too long, Nathanael finally admits, “I think that’s what made you brave, though…”

 

While he still doesn’t know if he wants to share this, he owes Marinette this much. After drawing her without permission, after pressuring her into going out with him without acknowledging her prior commitments, then comparing her to _Chloe,_ she deserves this at the very least. 

 

So, he continues, “I don’t really remember everything, to be honest, but… I know that when I was possessed, I really thought I was in the right of it. I didn’t realize how evil that magic actually was... because it gave me the chance to feel brave and powerful, and to do whatever I wanted.”

 

“You saw what it was doing, though…” here Nathanael stops, trying to sort out his thoughts, before he haltingly says, “When you asked why I hurt people, you saw what I was doing and wanted me to stop. When you agreed to come with me, it was to try and keep everything as private as possible, right?”

 

He waits for Marinette to slowly nod her confirmation, then he adds, “You didn’t hesitate even though you might have gotten injured… and you didn’t hold it against me the next day, even though I almost drowned you. I think that’s real bravery, and kindness, to be able to do that…”

 

“Also, with the Horrificator and Dark Blade, you were so confident when you took charge to try and keep us safe - even the mayor listened to you, when you said we needed to evacuate. You’re really amazing, so I think you’d make an amazing muse for Ladybug.”

 

Nathanael trails off after that, not really sure of what else he can add - as it is, his brain already feels somewhat fried from just admitting as much as he has, and he hadn’t even been looking at Marinette at the time. 

 

When he finally does lift his gaze to her, away from the (pointless) study of his scuffed shoes, Nathanael sees that Marinette is trying to hide a bright bloom of a blush and a smile behind her clapped hands. 

 

Then, he’s so startled at the sight that he can’t even _begin_ to think about coherent thought any time soon, and he almost misses it when Marinette, apparently giving up on hiding her elation at his words, says, “Wow, no one’s ever said that to me before… Thank you!”

 

“I-it’s no problem, really. I’m, well… I’m just saying what a lot of the class thinks, anyways, so….”

 

Marinette hesitates, biting at her lip as she thinks over his words, and she's almost wary as she finally asks, “All of that, though… that’s why you want to base Ladybug off of me?”

 

All Nathanael can really manage is a rapid nod, but it says exactly what he needs it to, and Marinette lets out a breath, then smiles, “Ok, then. If that’s how you feel Nath, go for it. I’ll be looking forwards to seeing your work in the future!”

 

“Re-really?”

 

“Of course,” Marinette adds, “And if you ever need like an interview or anything, I’m happy to help. Good luck on your comic, I’m sure it’ll be amazing.”

 

Nathanael can't hide the grin that's spreading across his face. As he exclaims, “Th-thank you!” he's not really sure that he wants to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then the minute that Nathanael scurries away, Tikki asks Marinette if that's even the slightest bit wise. To which Marinette has absolutely no answer.


End file.
